Fine Art Photography

Tag: Structural Steel Beams

The work on the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span is moving so fast it is becoming more and more difficult to shoot, edit and post the photos I’m getting now. With Ironworkers, Raising Gangs and Cable Stay Gangs, working feverishly to complete their tasks it is hectic to say the least.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

The opening image is a shot of Monique Jones in the cab of here Front End Loader while working on the Ohio River Bridges Project. “Moe”, as she is known by the crew members at the Kentucky Approach of the Ohio River Bridges Project, is seldom without her wonderful smile. She is on the go all day long moving everything from rock for the project to large containers of parts.I don’t think I’ve ever seen her when she wasn’t sitting up there in her “office” smiling.

Monique Jones and Nan Grant confer on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

In this second image of Monique she is talking with another Operating Engineer, Nan Grant. Nan is the Oiler for one of the cranes stationed on the Kentucky Approach to the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Todd Blankenship, crane operator in Section One of the Ohio River Bridges Pr0ject.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

The photo above is of Todd Blankenship one of the many Crane Operators on the Ohio River Bridges Project. It seems that nearly every photo I shoot of crane operators is from this vantage point. I think it is appropriate since their work has them looking high into the sky over the job.When guys like Todd have a load hanging from the crane they are constantly looking up to see the signals from the people they are working with. The job of a Crane Operator is one that carries immense responsibility; any mistake by them could cause a catastrophic situation if the load or the crane itself were to topple.

Slade Rock and Jimbo Clark tying rebar on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

In this photo Slade Rock and Jimbo Clark are working together to build a rebar structure for one of the many pier caps that support the roadway. In the background you can see a column with a concrete cap sitting on it. The structure Slade and Jimbo are working on will be lifted up and placed inside the concrete forms on another column to strengthen the concrete cap. Jimbo is a Journeyman Ironworker and is training Slade, who is an Apprentice Ironworker, how to layout and properly tie the rebar according to the blueprint specifications. As an Apprentice Slade will spend thousands of hours under the watchful eyes of experienced Journeymen like Jimbo learning the Ironworker’s Trade.

Jimbo Clark tying rebar for a new abutment on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

I shot this photo of Jimbo Clark as he was tying the mat for the new roadway that will carry eastbound traffic onto I-71 North out of downtown Louisville. I liked the way the concrete abutment and the rebar for the barrier wall framed Jimbo in the shot. One other interesting thing about Jimbo is his love of photography. Almost all of the people on this job carry smartphones and snap photos of one another throughout the course of a day though few have as good an eye for composition as Jimbo. Jimbo shared several images on his phone with me one day and I was really astounded by the way he had framed his shots. When he told me he had been carrying a camera with him since his early days as an Ironworker I understood that he too was an avid photographer.

Ironworkers gather their tools to start the day on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

One of the great pleasures of being a Heavy Highway and Bridges Construction photographer is getting to see the sunrise. Building our nation’s infrastructure is a demanding job that requires the women and men working there to face the elements each day. Many of them have commented to me about a beautiful sunset that they saw that morning especially if I get to their section later in the morning and fail to see what they saw. In this image I wanted to tell the story of how the day begins as the sun rises and the workers gather their tools and get their work assignment together.

Neil Childress grading along I-71 as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

Whenever you see the Road Grader on the site you can be sure they are preparing the new road bed for the next phase of construction. The size and power of these massive machines is needed to move hundred of truckloads of gravel into place and leveled according to the plan specifications. On the Ohio River Bridges Project there in only one such grader working in Section One; it is operated by Neil Childress, another member of the Operating Engineers Union Local 181 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Progress on the Bridge Towers is Going Strong

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

In the image above you can see the beginnings of five of the six towers that will carry the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Since this image was taken a couple of weeks ago the sixth tower has emerged from the river and is well along the way to climbing into the sky.

Concrete forms for bridge columns along Main Street.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

I liked this shot because it shows the concrete forms for square bridge columns along Main Street and the silhouette of the worker in the background.

Crane Flying Column Form Into Place at Slugger Field

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

This image from above the construction near Slugger Field show a square concrete form being “flown” into place along Main Street. It will be lowered over the rebar structure and then stabilized and filled with concrete to form another bridge column.

Slugger Field Progress

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

This view of the area by Slugger Field shows the progress being made on the current phase of Section One. On the right side you can see the cap for carrying the girders for the new roadway. On the left can be seen another cap that has been formed and will soon have concrete poured inside to make another pad for the girders that will carry the road. In the background the first completed section of southbound I-65 is clearly visible as it passes by Slugger Field.

Carpenters Installing a Safety Rail on a Concrete Form

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

In the image above two Carpenters are working together to build a catwalk and safety rail around a concrete form for a bridge cap. Safety is paramount on the job and shows the commitment of the workers to preventing injury to anyone on the job.

Carpenters assist a Surveyor while building a safety rail around the top of a concrete form.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

While building these concrete forms it is important that the Surveyors measure and verify that everthing is within the design specifications. In this image a Surveyor is being helped to get on top of the concrete form to take measurements.

Steel Girders for the I-71 section of Spaghetti Junction march east.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

This image shows the steel girders that will carry the roadway from I-65 onto I-71 when the project is completed.

Shadow pattern of cross bracing and steel girders making an “N” on the earth.

Click on any image to enlarge it and see a slide show of the images in this post.

I couldn’t resist taking this shot of the shadows formed by the steel girders and cross braces that placed cast initials on the ground. I took it as a sign that I am where I should be at this time and that my desire to document the Ohio River Bridges Project is the right choice for me.

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

I spent a little time with a Pile Driving Crew earlier this week as they drove 70 foot steel beams into the earth to build a foundation for another bridge pier. These guys have to get these huge beams upright and then drive them into the ground using a single cylinder diesel “hammer”. They must make sure that the piling in perfectly plumb so that it can transfer the weight of the bridge directly to the bedrock. It is heavy, dirty work and the crew has to pay close attention to every aspect of the process to make certain that the pilings are properly placed

Pile Driver Climbing the “Hammer”

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

Once the piling is positioned and ready to be hammered into place one of the crew must climb the hammer frame and set the hammer, a single cylinder diesel engine for driving the pile. In the image above he is climbing into position to do that. The line coming down to his back is a safety line to prevent him falling to the ground in the case of losing his footing.

Pile Driving Crew Positioning the “Hammer”

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

In the image above you can see the entire crew working to drive a second section of piling which will extend the length to almost 140 feet. Just above Andrew Miokovic’s shoulder there is a line where this second piling has been welded to a section that is already 65 feet into the ground. The man climbing the hammer is also the welder for the crew and has already welded the beam to the top of the one in the ground.

Pile Driving Crew Positioning the “Hammer” #2

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

In the above image the hammer motor has been energized and as soon as the man climbing down the hammer frame is clear the motor will be started and the pile will start descending into the earth about 4 to 6 inches each time it fires.

Hammerhead and Slope Wall

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

Once the work of the pile driving crew is completed other crews of Carpenters and Ironworkers will start building another bridge pier such as the “Hammerhead” in this photo. It would be impossible to install the structural steel that will carry the new roadway without the unseen work that the Pile Drivers do to ensure a solid foundation. As in so many major projects there is a lot of work done that we never see or consider when viewing the final product.

Structural Steel Heading East

Click on any image to open an enlarged view and slideshow of the images in this post.

This final image in the post shows the structural steel that will eventually carry traffic east out of Louisville onto Interstate 64. I chose this composition to use the leading lines of the shadows to carry the viewer’s eye down along the sloping terrain and into the background. The three engineers happened to come into the scene as I was composing the image so I attempted to capture each man just as he stepped out of the shadow lines.

All of these images are HDR images created using a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures. I merged them using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and then took the merged file into Adobe Camera Raw where I adjusted the final Brightness, Fill Light, Recovery and Exposure. Once I was happy with the image I returned it to Photoshop CS5 where I performed a Levels Adjustment, Lens Correction where needed and applied Smart Sharpening. After that I added another layer where I tweaked the final details using NIK Viveza.

The First Loads of Bridge Beams Arrive at the Port of Indiana for the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Another sign that the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project is progressing is the delivery of the first structural steel beams to the project. The first loads of the structural steel beams for the Downtown Span arrived at the Port of Indiana a couple of weeks ago. These massive steel beams were unloaded there and will soon be used to build sub assemblies for the Downtown Span. They will be assembled on barges in the Ohio River and then towed down river to the job site where they will be lifted into place to begin building the actual bridge itself. I rode up there to shoot the unloading of them and to see first hand how massive they are.

The Walsh Construction job site is in the Port of Indiana which is located on the Ohio River near the eastern end of Six Mile Island. The first photo in this post shows a few of the structural steel beams sitting on trailers at the Port of Indiana. In the background the boom of the crane that will unload them rises into the morning sky.

Ironworkers Rigging a Bridge Beam for a Pick by the Crane at the Port of Indiana.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

The massive size of these structural steel beams can be seen in the image above. The Ironworkers standing on the beam are around six feet tall and they seem tiny when contrasted with the beam itself. In this shot they are preparing to rig the structural steel beam for the pick.The lifting of material or equipment by a crane is known as a “pick”. Rigging a pick is critical work that requires attention to safety and detail as any mistake made then can have catastrophic results once the load is in the air. The yellow structures behind the Ironworkers are safety devices that will catch the worker if he should slip and fall.

Ironworker Setting Up the Hook to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. #1

Click on the image to enlarge it.

In the photo above you can better see the massive hook that is clamped onto the flange of the beam for the pick. The body of the device rests on the beam and two massive jaws are then lowered and secured to the flange.

Ironworker Signaling the Crane Operator to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Hand signals are one of the main ways that Ironworkers communicate with the crane Operator. In this image he is directing the crane Operator to move the lifting hook to the proper location for clamping it to the beam.

All of the images in this post are three frame brackets sets of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures that have been merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to create HDR images. I used the Balanced preset and then adjusted the Detail slider to Accentuated and the Drama slider to Deep before returning the merged file to Aperture 3 for final adjustments of the shadows, highlights, contrast, detail, color channels and sharpening.